Lily's Contemplative Sorting
by yourmotherseyes
Summary: Lily is getting sorted, and contemplates everything her parents have faced, and what she is going to do to make them proud of her. One-shot.


_**Lily's Contemplative Sorting**_

_**AN- This is just a random one-shot plot bunny that came to me, I was going to originally write a couple of short paragraphs and not put it anywhere but it turned into this jumble of random thoughts that Lily has. So, I don't really know what this is, but here it is, I thought I might as well upload it : )**_

Professor Mcgonagall calls out the words 'Potter, Lily' with a slightly choked voice. Popping out of the small line of children left waiting to be sorted, is a petite girl with a prominent jaw line, with flowing familiar auburn hair, and a pair of familiar almond shaped brown eyes.

The hall becomes hushed- each table watches in awe and silence for the most famous wizard in the world's daughter to step up to be sorted. She walks quickly and only looks at the floor, not at the faces of so many eager and expecting teachers and students. She hurriedly sat down on the stool, anxiety pulsing through her.

Here she finally was. The place she'd been hearing about for years from all of her family. Her amazing father had always lovingly talked of Hogwarts, with its high ceilings and displays of the blue velveted star strewn skies outside, and the many halls where the peaceful magic just lurked in the walls. He talked of how the castle could be so loud. Her mother had elaborated; bursts of raucous laughter and chattering, shouts of incantations, the sounds of whizzes of jinxes and hexes...

Her dad had mostly described the quietness the castle could hold... the peaceful hum of sorcery in every room, the rooms where her dad had apparently lounged in alone. He told her of the many secret rooms and passageways to discover.

Once her dad told her one freezing night, in which both her and her dad wore matching fluffy crimson socks, about just one insignificant moment, he said. He'd just slowly pace down the hall of Hogwarts. It was empty, early spring, he'd said. There was only faint whispers of the magic that could be heard- he said that magic was like a person itself, ever present, like a comforting protector. He told her he was planning his life ahead, with her mum, and they were going to go on and live somewhere tucked away in a cottage. They'd go on adventures. of course, because Ginny was not a 'village person'. She liked to explore the world. And so did he- a lot. Lily knew how curious her dad could be. But for some days and nights, they could hide in their house, away from the worlds expectancy of him and his fame, and echoes of everything that had happened. Lily was going to miss her home, with the surrounding acres of ripe meadows, the stretch of sky which changed with the seasons, and of course the chicken coops. Those chickens were Lily's favourite people.

Her parents thought it paramount to let her know about the dangers of the world. They'd told her about the 'git' (as his uncle Ron had described) that had murdered her dad's parents. The Weasley's were the same. All her cousins knew too- _'You can't escape all of our pasts_' her granddad Arthur had said gravely to all of his children, and their children.

'_But that doesn't mean we tell them everything,_' her dad had repeated over the years.

She knew why. She was quite a perceptible 11 year old girl. Dad didn't want her to have a horror filled childhood like he had had.

She knew about her father's struggles, because she'd crept downstairs some nights and heard her parents softly comforting each other on the sofa over the years. She heard her dad confiding in his mum about what he'd endured as a child. How he'd been treated- Lily didnt understand how her dad was the best dad, she thought, he was today. Lily thought she would have not come out alive if having to grow up that way.

She'd actually heard her strong, good dad cry .. and her mother sob over things Lily hadn't always understood, because she'd suffered too. She'd heard them discussing the deaths, the long months her father had spent, miles apart, having to hide in themselves -her father having to hide literally- all for the defeat of...Voldemort. Listening to them one night, (when she'd hovered on the bottom step of the stairs and she had looked through the windowed door to see her mum resting on her dad on the plush scarlet- coloured chair), she'd heard them discussing that day. The day she knew her uncle Fred had been killed, the day good-hearted Remus, her gran Molly had called him, and Nymphadora had been murdered. But Lily had ran back up the stairs because she didn't think she could listen to their hopeless filled voices or their shaking cries any longer.

She followed her dads words, and didn't listen to anything she wasn't supposed to, if she could help it, because she knew he didn't want her to have the far from naive childhood he'd had. She could only imagine the pain of so many years of killings and loss...

But she knew some of it.

Lily understood the loneliness her parents had felt over their seven years of war at Hogwarts. Particularly her dad... family-less, unsure of what and where to go, having to discover facts about his life and background and being accused of lying and attention seeking by the whole of the Wizarding World. She knew about the sadness they must still feel, because Lily didn't think she'd be able to cope if her brother had just stopped breathing, even if it _was_ James. She didn't think she'd be able to cope if her dad, or her mum just.. stopped moving. When she thought about this once, sadness like she'd never known filled her and she had to run away from the Burrow's kitchen table where everyone was gathered laughing and joking over the sweet and mouthwatering cookery of her gran. She'd had to run and find her dad, who happened to be standing on the threshold of the front door of the Burrow, staring out into the azure, smoky air- staring quite blankly, now Lily thought about it. Her dad had scooped her up immediately and held her while she cried, and he had smiled sadly when she told him why she was crying. He assured her he would never leave her. Ever.

Yes, although her parents had decided, as well as her whole family, to move on from the battle and the hardships, all the children had to be aware of it. And Lily knew her parents couldn't totally ignore it had ever happened- surely her dad wouldn't be the strong protective dad that was her protector she knew him to be without having fought his whole life.

Now, as she sat down on the famous tiny stool, she knew she was going to make everyone so proud.

_'You go out there Lil, you make us proud. Don't waste all the talents you have, you'll stun them all. Potter's always do. You're like your my mum, your other gran, you know. Because listen.. I don't know much about my parents, but I know my mum was so brave, and so kind.. and I even heard she was as charming as you. You look like your dear mum over there though, well your eye colour- kind of chocolate-y. Everything else of yours is a bit prettier. You'll fit right in. Anyone gives you any trouble, go and find your brothers, all right?'_

Lily had watched, giggling, as her mum wacked her dad around the head with her hand. '_You do look like your dad's mum though. I've seen pictures of her- your eye shape is the same, as is the shade of your hair. You're both beautiful. But no! Our Lily's way too sophisticated and much too like a warrior to go and find her brothers. Just use them jinxes I already know you'll be brilliant at. Keep safe, you'll be fine. You're going to love it so much, just like I did'._

Lily felt a thump of love for her sarcastic, teasing dad who always kept her safe, her quite wild and caring mum, and all of her family. She was finally going to be able to cast things to her hearts content. She was going to be truly magical. Feeling a surge of confidence, the famous raggedy hat was then placed over her head, or rather around her head, for it fell to her chin. She was plunged into darkness.

The sorting hats voice brought her out of her thoughts, and quite gently said in her ear: 'Ah, another Potter...'

It suddenly screamed, ' GRYFFINDOR!'

A roar of applause sounded throughout the whole hall. The hat was pulled off of her, and the bright candle lights lighting the whole hall were present again. Lily looked up into the face of the headmistress, who she had heard many tales of from her brothers, calling the strict teacher, 'Minnie'.

However now, Lily was startled to see, Mcgonagall was smiling at her, and Lily thought she detected water in her eyes, reflected off the candlelight. She was gestured out of her seat, and she nearly skipped happily past all of the surrounding students- all still clapping wildly and grinning at her, some wooing and cheering.

The Gryffindors were the most mighty though- from the oldest mature teens to the smallest children around her own age, a lot were standing and hooting, shouting, ' We got Potter again!'

Feeling overwhelmed but with a glowing feeling of happiness, she found the familiar small bush of coal black hair. She went over to the boy the hair belonged to, smiling widely at everyone, as they graciously parted for her to sit next to him. She briefly looked at the many plates of strong rich dishes delightedly, but then looked glowingly at the person sitting next to her.

Albus stared at her, grinning, his emerald piercing eyes piercing her, his glasses perched on his nose. He was the splitting image of their dad, and she thought that would bring her comfort when she missed dad.

'I've come to sit over here at Gryffindor just for you tonight, just for this feast.. James is somewhere over there. Speak to him some other time'.

'You won't get infected over at this table, I promise. How was you so sure that I'd be placed in Gryffindor? Lily inquired chirpily, wrapping her hands around Albus's arm and hugging him.

'That was obvious. Wait til you see him, Lily'.

'Who, James? Don't worry, it's not hard to wait to see hi-'

Albus shook his head and grinned even wider. 'No. I know this person's been waiting to see you. Severus's portrait'.


End file.
